Dallas – Shaquille O’Neal, who once described himself as “quotatious,” has a reputation for being able to fill a reporter’s notebook at the NBA Finals. As he makes his sixth Finals appearance, the oral legend of O’Neal continues to grow, highlighted by a lecture to earthlings.
“I’m a freak of nature,” O’Neal said Saturday. “You’ve never seen anyone this big, this sexy, move this way…. You’ve got to understand that, you know, being that I’m in the fitness business now, I’ve got a lot of people that understand that muscle weighs more than fat and if you look at the frame, there’s a lot of muscle on this frame.
“My (weight) numbers, sometimes it’s going to be a higher number, and you earthlings, when you hear a high number because of your level of thinking, you’re automatically going to think it’s fat. But no, I’ve been 11, 12 percent body fat my whole career.
“But when you’ve got a big, sexy, beautiful man that’s up in the 340s, 350s, the way you guys were taught on this planet, you’re going to automatically think it’s fat.”
On his brute strength: “Whoever I’m playing against, I just like to punish them, and you really can’t punish people with finesse. I like to use my brute strength, but usually when they can’t handle that, they flop and they fall and the Earth doesn’t feel sorry for the other earthlings, don’t try to control them. I just try to mix it up.”
On the planet he is from: “I don’t know the name of the planet. The files were destroyed. So, actually, my mother originally told me I wasn’t born, that I was found on the train. But I have a lot of heritage in Texas, but I consider myself a New Jerseyan. I was found on the Amtraks in Jersey City, N.J.”
Health improving
Miami guard Dwyane Wade said his legs were tired in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s Game 1 loss to Dallas. The two-time all-star has been bothered by a sinus infection for more than a week, but said he is doing better and will play in Game 2 tonight.
“I’m getting better each day,” said Wade, who had three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter of Game 1. “Of course, it’s taking longer than expected, but I’m not going to worry about it. I’m just going to worry about what we can do as a team.”
Dirk adjusts
Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki entered the NBA Finals averaging 27.7 points in the playoffs, but was limited to 16 points in Game 1. He has been working on making adjustments.
“We watched the film, obviously, to see what they do,” he said. “But I think they were pushing up on me pretty good. Once I put it down, they would send in somebody from the back. I don’t think that there was much that I could do, just take my shots if they are there. If not, make my teammates better and find the open guy.”
Game 2 pressure
Because of the 2-3-2 Finals setup, Games 3, 4 and 5 will be in Miami. The rest of the playoffs is a 2-2-1-1-1 format. While the Finals format, which is key for travel reasons, is constantly debated, both coaches said they couldn’t care less.
“Whether it’s 2-3-2 or whatever it is, 2-2-1-1-1, they are all important,” Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. “All Game 2s are important, and then the next one. We don’t talk about getting off to an 0-2 start, 2-0 start before the series. We only talk about one game.”
Said Miami coach Pat Riley: “(Saturday) is a day of focusing on and moving into the future for Game 2, and that’s all that counts.”
From A.D. to Jet
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Dallas guard Jason Terry, who shot 13-for-18 from the floor in Game 1, recorded the fourth-highest field-goal percentage in a player’s first Finals appearance. It was the highest since current Nuggets assistant coach Adrian Dantley went 14-for-16 in his first Finals game for the 1988 Pistons (minimum 10 field goals made).
